AEW Stars Reevaluating Their Future After WWE's Handling Of Cody Rhodes
The WWE push of Cody Rhodes hasn't gone unnoticed by these AEW talents.
How WWE has handled Cody Rhodes since the American Nightmare returned to the company at WrestleMania 38, has caused FTR to reevaluate where their pro wrestling future lies.
Of course, Dax Harwood has detailed several times on his own podcast that FTR's AEW contracts are up in April, and Harwood has likewise been open with how the tandem have been weighing up their options where it pertains to re-signing with AEW, returning to WWE, or working as free agents away from those promotions.
Speaking during a recent appearance on Haus of Wrestling (via WrestlingNews.co), Harwood noted how WWE's push of Cody Rhodes has caused he and Cash Wheeler to "reevaluate" the pair's future.
As Dax put it when addressing a potential WWE return:
"If I told you no, then that'd be a complete lie, because it was pretty out in the open what happened with AEW and Cody. So, WWE could have snatched him up and really done whatever they wanted to, because he wouldn't be able to come back to AEW. But seeing that they took him seriously and they have allowed him to be a big star definitely had me and Cash analysing it way more than we would have before. They've done a great job with him, and Cody has done a great job with himself too. He's been given the opportunities, but it's all about what you do with the opportunities, because he could have been given an opportunity and just squandered it. But he believes in himself, man. I'm very, very close with Cody. We talk probably, at the very least we talk once a week, and I'm very proud of him, and I'm sure he's proud of us as well. But yes, it definitely made us reevaluate the things we could possibly do in the future."
Of course, Rhodes' return to WWE began with three major PLE wins over Seth Rollins before the second-generation star was forced to step away from the ring to undergo surgery for a torn pec. Upon recovering from that injury, Cody won the titular men's match at this year's Royal Rumble to earn himself a shot at Roman Reigns' Undisputed WWE Universal Championship next weekend at WrestleMania 39.
Where AEW is concerned, FTR made their return to the company at Revolution earlier this month after several months away from the promotion. There, they attacked Austin and Colten Gunn, and Dax and Cash are now set to face the Gunns for the AEW Tag Team Titles in a match that will see FTR leave the company should they come up short.
It's worth noting, there were some reports that Harwood and Wheeler are in fact tied down to long-term AEW contracts, though Dax has moved to rubbish such stories in recent weeks.
It remains to be seen exactly what's in the future for FTR, but we should have a far clearer idea once April gets here.